Chrysoberyl
by JoAnn Stuart
Summary: Once upon a time, there was a handsome firefighter/paramedic, who read one fairy tale too many...
1. Chapter 1

**Chrysoberyl**

_By JoAnn Stuart _

_"Chrysoberyl" ©2000 JoAnn Stuart. "Emergency!" and its characters © Mark VII Productions, Inc. and Universal Studios. All rights reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should be inferred. The settings and characters are fictitious, even when a real name may be used. Any similarity to actual persons, living or deceased, or to actual events is purely coincidental and is not intended to suggest that the events described actually occurred._

_Thank you to my beta readers and, as always, to CJ for hosting this story and creating the blurb. Originally published on __**Station 51.**_

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"…and the princess lived happily ever after. The end." Johnny closed the book and started to get up off the bed.

"Wait! Let's read this one now, Uncle Johnny!" said the little girl, eagerly reaching for another book from the stack on her bedside table.

"No, no, no, Susan. We've already read seven books. It's time for you to go to sleep." Johnny took the book from her hands and placed it back on the nightstand.

"But Daddy always reads this one to me right before bed. I can't sleep if you don't read me 'Chrysoberyl, The Rainbow Dragon'," she pleaded, her big brown eyes growing bright with tears and her mouth puckering into a pout.

Johnny gently tapped Susan's lips. "We could have a tea party on your bottom lip. No more stories. If you don't go to sleep now, your parents are going to scold me."

Johnny tried to pull the covers up to Susan's chin, but she resisted, wiggling to sit up amidst the pillows and stuffed animals. One fat tear escaped and made a slow, heartrending track down her cheek as she sniffled, "I want to hear Chrysoberyl!"

"But, I've read that one to you five times already!"

Susan's tears began to escalate, her little shoulders scrunched up in soul-deep misery.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Johnny would have done practically anything to shush the woefully whimpering child. Resignedly sitting back down on the bed and pulling the book off the top of the stack, he asked, "Is this the one?"

"Yes!" Susan nodded eagerly, her previous lamentations quickly forgotten in her pleased smile.

"This is the last time," warned Johnny, wagging his finger in mock-sternness, knowing all the while that he'd been had.

"Okay, Uncle Johnny!" agreed the little girl, eyes now shining with anticipation.

Johnny sighed and put his arm around Susan, his irritation melting as the little girl snuggled up closer and opened the book.

"Once upon a time, in a far-away land, lived a beautiful dragon named Chrysoberyl. No ordinary dragon this, her shiny scales glistened with all the colors of the rainbow, and everyone who saw her said she was a most beautiful dragon indeed…"

Once the story was finished, Johnny fetched Susan one last drink of water, vanquished the monsters beneath the bed, retrieved her favorite teddy from the floor where it had fallen, changed the bulb in the nightlight, took her on another trip to the bathroom, scratched the itch on her back, then finally tucked the little girl into her bed. "Goodnight, sweetheart," he said, lightly kissing her forehead.

"G'night, Uncle Johnny," she murmured sleepily, burrowing deeply into her comforter until just the top of her head peeked out.

Before Johnny turned out the light, he glanced around the quintessential little girls' room, done up in white lace and pink flounces, with stuffed animals and rosy-cheeked baby dolls sprinkled about in abundance. He smiled. Raising kids wasn't all that hard, especially if you got to hand them back at the end of the evening.

* * *

In the family room, he found Chris watching the adventures of Wonder Woman.

Sitting down next to the boy, he admired the assets on the screen for a few moments before he thought to ask, "Do your Mom and Dad usually let you watch this show?"

"My Mom doesn't like it, she says it's stupid, but my Dad always lets me, if he's home. Mom says he just watches it to see if she'll fall out." Chris turned away from the television to ask curiously, "fall out of what?"

"Uhhh…" Johnny felt himself blush as he verbally scrambled for a plausible explanation that wouldn't get him into hot water with Roy and Joanne. "Uhhh… doesn't she leap tall buildings in a single bound or something like that?"

"No, Uncle Johnny," Chris said in that long-suffering tone children adopt when speaking to especially dim-witted adults. "That's Superman."

"Oh." Changing the subject, Johnny asked, "Want some popcorn?"

"Yeah! That would be neat!"

Johnny stood up. "Come on, and help me make it."

* * *

Two hours later, Johnny startled out of a light doze at the sound of a car door closing in the driveway outside. He rose from the sofa, switched off the television, and opened the front door just as Roy and his wife, Joanne, were splashing up the rain-soaked walk.

"Oh-oh. He's greeting us at the door. Did the kids give you a bad time?" asked Roy with a grin, shaking the last drops of water from the umbrella.

Johnny smiled in return. "No, they were good. Chris finished all his homework, so I let him watch TV until bedtime. We made popcorn, too. I hope you don't mind. Susan went to bed around 7:30, but I had to read her eight books before she finally fell asleep."

"Eight! You're going to spoil her!" exclaimed Joanne as her husband helped her remove her raincoat.

"That's okay. She really likes dragons and princesses, huh?"

"Yeah. Especially the one about the rainbow dragon. I think I've read that book a million times. She claims that it's real. What an imagination," laughed Roy.

"I had to read that one six times."

Roy laughed again. "Six times? She's really got you pegged. I usually only have to read it two or three times."

"Yeah. So, how was the movie?" Johnny asked, shrugging into his jacket.

"It was a little silly," responded Roy, while at the same time Joanne said, "It was good." They looked at each other and laughed.

"What did you see again?"

"Saturday Night Fever. Take a date to see it. You'd probably like it," replied Roy.

"Thanks for tending the kids tonight, Johnny. We really appreciate it," added Joanne. "I was going crazy, stuck in this house with the kids and all this rain."

"Anytime. It's no problem," said Johnny. "Good-night, Joanne. See you tomorrow, Roy. Let's hope it stops raining!"

"Good-night! Drive safely!" chorused the couple from the doorway, waving their farewells.

* * *

Morning brought no relief from the wet, blustery weather that had plagued the area for the past week. The wind blew the rain horizontally and by the time he splashed from the parking lot into the station, Johnny's shirt was damp and his shoes were soaked, the left one announcing his presence with an annoying squeak.

"Better change your shoes, Gage, or Henry might mistake you for a rubber duckie."

Already irritated about the sodden condition of his footwear, Johnny retorted with ill-humor, "Oh, yeah? Well, you better change your face, or Henry might mistake you for the…" Chet would never know what Henry might mistake him for as one of the Phantom's water bombs caught Johnny full in the chest, ending the paramedic's train of thought in a soggy splat. "Chet!"

"Better change your shirt, now," grinned Chet, as he headed out the door for roll call.

Roy barely suppressed a grin as he tossed his partner a towel. "Look at it this way. You were wet already."

Johnny snatched it out of the air with a glare, and stalked into the shower to change.

* * *

"Station 51. Child trapped. Victoria Park. Nearest cross street, Bohnam. Time out 8:45."

The squad and the engine pulled up to the base of a green, grassy hillock, dotted with patches of scrubby brush and grey boulders. Fingers of muddied, flattened weeds streaked down the slope, resembling miniature earthen ski runs. Several children and adults milled about the base of the rise in small groups. One distraught woman with a boy in tow approached the rescue vehicles as the men got out.

"My son is trapped up there! You've got to get him out!" cried the woman in agitation, firmly grasping the shoulders of the squirming child in front of her. "I told them not to play on the far side of the hill!"

"Can you tell us what happened?" asked Cap calmly.

"We were sliding down the hill on boxes and then Danny disappeared in that hole!" said the boy, pointing with a grubby finger to an indentation midway up the rise, where a man crouched on his knees, shining a flashlight into an opening.

"Okay, ma'am, we'll do everything we can," Cap said reassuringly as he gently patted the woman's shoulder.

Chet and Marco rounded the end of the engine, bearing the ropes that would probably be needed to help extricate the trapped child. "We're ready." Johnny and Roy came from the squad, bringing the Stokes laden with supplies.

"Let's go," Cap turned and motioned his men up the hill.

Several adults broke away from the groups of people standing around. "We'd like to help!"

"Right now you can best help us by staying down here. The ground may not be stable."

The firefighters and paramedics hiked up to the spot that the boy had indicated, their feet alternately slipping and sinking into the soggy, rain-slicked turf, the gusts of wind hampering their progress as it buffeted them from first one direction and then another. The fine drizzle stung like so many tiny needles, driven by the force of the wind.

"Wait! Don't get too close," warned Cap, holding up an arm to stop the others when they were about fifteen feet away from their objective. "It looks like the ground around the opening might give way."

"What if we lay a ladder across it to distribute the weight, Cap?"

"Yeah, we'll probably have to do that. Kelly and Lopez, go down and bring it up," ordered Cap.

The wind blowing across the mouth of the shaft produced a mournful moan. Raising his voice so as to be heard above the wind, he called out to the man perched above the opening, "Can you see the boy?"

"Yes! It looks like he fell down a little tunnel to a cave. From what I can see, it looks like the floor is about fifteen to twenty feet down."

"Does he appear to be injured?"

"He's got some scrapes and he says his leg hurts!"

"Tell him we're coming to get him out. And, then I want you to carefully back away from the edge of the hole."

Johnny finished fastening a harness around his waist, while Roy affixed a second harness to another rope. Roy gave Johnny's belt a final check and a tug. "Ready?"

"Yup." Johnny handed Roy his turnout coat. "The boy's name is Danny, right?"

"Right. Be careful."

"You know me. Caution is my middle name," Johnny replied with a confident grin.

After Chet and Marco laid the ladder down across the hole, Johnny slowly crawled across. When he was directly above the opening, he called down to the boy. "Danny? I'm coming down to get you out. It's going to be dark for a minute, okay?"

"Okay," came the indistinct reply.

The paramedic then began to lower himself feet-first through the slats. "It's pretty narrow in here, Cap!" he yelled as his shoulders cleared the opening. "I'm probably going to have to send the boy up alone."

He shimmied down through about eight feet of earth, and then the chimney-like tunnel abruptly widened into a fairly large cave, which proved not to be as dark as he expected. The walls appeared oddly smooth, almost glassy in places, and seemed to emit a slight luminescence. A tumble of rocks looked to have recently cascaded to the floor on one side of the cavern. After his feet touched the ground, he yelled back up, "Give me a little more slack."

Crouching down beside the boy, he said, "Hi Danny. My name is Johnny. We're going to get you out, but first let's have a look at you." Johnny gently palpated the boy's arms and legs.

"Ow!" complained Danny as Johnny touched a particularly tender spot on his foot.

"Sorry about that. Well, it looks like you were lucky. I think your ankle is probably just sprained." Johnny removed his pocket light and shone it into the boy's eyes, then checked his neck and head. "Do you hurt anywhere else?" he asked as he felt the boy's abdomen.

"No."

"Okay. Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to put this belt around you and then we're going to pull you up," Johnny explained as he prepared the boy to be lifted out of the cave.

Pulling the handie-talkie out of his pocket, Johnny made his report, concluding with the words, "He's ready to come up."

Johnny steadied the boy for as long as he could reach. As Danny rose higher, Johnny called out, "You keep your arms down. Wait for the men on top to pull you out, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good deal."

As Johnny watched the progress of the boy up the shaft, the soft, rain-soaked earth at the top began to give way. "Watch out!" he yelled. "It's starting to collapse!" Johnny saw Danny's feet begin to clear the hole just as a shower of mud and rocks began to rain around and on him, knocking the handie-talkie out of his hand. He jumped back away from the downpour, tripped over something and fell, striking the side of his head on an outcrop in the wall of the cave as he went down.

* * *

"Hold onto the ends of the ladder!" shouted Cap as the earth surrounding the hole in the ground began to collapse inward, like sand going down an hourglass.

Roy lay flat along the ladder, grasping Danny firmly under the arms, as the lower half of the boy's body dangled through the slats on the ladder. "Don't move! Don't move! I've got you!"

"I'm going to fall!" Danny continued struggling to clamber up on the ladder. "I'm going to fall!"

"No, you're not. I've got you. Hold still! You're not going to fall!" Roy strove to keep his voice calm, masking the surge of fear he felt not only for the boy and himself, but also for his partner still down below.

The panicked boy nodded, eyes wide, his breath coming in little gasps.

"Roy! It looks like it's stabilized. Start coming back slowly," called Cap.

"Okay, Danny. First, I'm going to pull you up on top of this ladder. Then, we're going to crawl back along until we reach the end. I'll be right here with you. Plus, you've got this safety harness on. And that will keep you from falling, too. Okay?"

The two inched their way back to the relative safety of the hard earth, Roy moving backwards while the boy crawled facing forward.

"Could you see him?" Cap asked Roy as the blond paramedic got off the ladder.

Roy shook his head. "I couldn't see anything after the ground started to collapse." He hesitated, wanting to stay and try to help Johnny, but his professionalism won out as he turned his attention on the young victim.

"Gage! Gage! Can you hear me?" Cap yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth.

Silence, save the hissing of the wind.

Cap tried unsuccessfully to raise the downed paramedic via his handie-talkie. Shoving it back into his pocket, he said, "Try tugging on the rope again!"

Mike and Marco cautiously hauled back on the rope, but it wouldn't budge.

Cap rubbed the bridge of his nose and squatted down beside Roy and Danny. "Can you describe the hole you fell into?"

"It's not really a hole. It's more like a cave." Danny described how the narrow tube funneled into a wider cavern beneath.

"What did Gage say? About eight feet down?" Cap thought aloud how best to extricate the paramedic.

"Maybe we can dig a trench perpendicular to the top of the cave?" suggested Mike.

"Maybe there's another opening?" said Marco.

Cap addressed Danny again. "Did you see anything that looked like the entrance to the cave?"

"No. Well, maybe. There was a pile of rocks on one side."

"Okay." Cap stood back up. "Let's do both." He directed Chet and Marco to start searching for a possible entrance to the cave and radioed for more assistance to begin digging the trench.

"Man, I shouldn't have hit him with the water bomb this morning," muttered Chet as he and Marco slipped and slid down the hill to start looking for another way into the cave.

"Why not?"

"I don't want that to be his last memory of me."

Marco cuffed Chet on the shoulder. "Ah, you know Johnny. He'll come out all right."


	2. Chapter 2

Johnny drifted up through grey layers of consciousness. He lay on something cold and hard, his head hurt, and his left eyelid stuck together. His mouth tasted of mud and copper. Dripping water sounded with a hollow, distant echo and a strong odor of sulfur mixed with something else assailed his nose. After prying his eye open, he tried to sit up, but a wave of nausea caused the bile to rise in the back of his throat. Deciding it was better to stay still, he stopped struggling, his breath escaping with a small groan.

A whuffling noise, accompanied by the sound of scratching on the rock caused him to sit up with a jerk. Everything spun crazily and there was two of everything for a moment. Slowly his surroundings stilled, and the two blurry shapes in front of him merged into one. He could just barely see something big shimmering in the faint light coming from the depths beyond.

Johnny's heart beat wildly as he held perfectly still, fearing that a wild beast dwelt in the cave. Then when nothing happened, he convinced himself that he must be seeing a reflection from what appeared to be a glimmering pool of water.

Until it moved closer.

With a strangled cry, Johnny awkwardly scrambled to his feet in an effort to get away from whatever was coming. He barely took one step before he found himself facedown on the ground, pinned by a sharp, heavy weight. Hot breath snuffled next to his ear as the pressure on his back lifted, and then he suddenly found himself flipped over and pinned down again.

As sharp claws dug lightly into his chest, he looked up at… No! It couldn't be! He must have a concussion and be hallucinating. Another whiff of heated sulfur as the beast breathed on him convinced Johnny that this was the most real hallucination he had ever experienced. He stared at the sinewy creature whose shiny scales reflected the spectrum of hues from emerald green on the body to gilded gold on the belly, the colors brilliant even in the shadowy light of the cave. The tip of the tail shone a ruby red, while the wings were cast in sapphire and scarlet. The snout of the beast gleamed in violet, and both horns and tusks appeared as burnished brass.

"Why are you here?" demanded the all-too-real figment of his imagination, baring sharp, pointed teeth and leaning a bit harder on the hapless human.

Johnny thought frantically, trying to remember what he had read in Susan's books. How did one address a dragon? "Greetings, Friend Dragon," he gasped, the weight on his chest making it difficult to draw breath. "We came to rescue the little boy who fell down the hole."

"You have come to ssssteal my treasssssure!" hissed the dragon, thumping her tail and flexing her wings in angry emphasis.

"No, ma'am. We just wanted to rescue the boy," Johnny replied, expecting to be barbecued at any moment.

The dragon snorted, emitting a tendril of smoke from her nostrils, and leaned back a bit, easing the pressure on Johnny's chest. "That small human damaged the ventilation chimney to my cave. The entrance to my abode seems to be blocked as well." The dragon gestured at the pile of rocks. "My servants have taken the day off. They're never here when I need them. Look at this mess. Now who will clean it up?" she asked petulantly. Then, eyeing the paramedic under her foot, she asked, "Do you need a job?"

"Uh, no, ma'am."

She suddenly leaned closer, her eyes seeming to peer into the depths of Johnny's soul. "Why are you here?" As Johnny returned her gaze, the dragon's black eyes grew larger and seemed to reflect all the colors of the rainbow. The whirl of colors made him feel dizzy.

"Are you The Rainbow Dragon?" he blurted out.

Surprised, the dragon drew back. "You know of me?"

"Why, yes." Johnny remembered that one story had mentioned that dragons love flattery. Warily sitting up on his elbows, he continued, "And, now that I see you for myself, I know that you are indeed the most beautiful dragon in the land…"

"Is that so?" purred the dragon, preening ever so slightly, her iridescent teardrop shaped scales glistening in the light as she moved. As the dragon stepped away, Johnny could see that she had adorned herself with several large jewels on her neck and abdomen as well. Then with a greater swiftness than Johnny could have imagined, the dragon once again pinned the paramedic to the ground. "And, have you seen many dragonsssss?" Her eyes appeared to whirl as she steadfastly fixed her gaze upon the human.

"No, ma'am. I just read a book. A childrens' book," he added, hoping that it would make him seem more harmless to the dragon.

"Ah." Seemingly satisfied with the honest answer, the dragon removed her clawed paw from Johnny's chest and stepped back a pace. "What is this tome? I would know of it."

"Uh…" Johnny struggled to recall what he had read, the strangeness of the situation in which he found himself and the pain in his head muddying his thoughts, making it hard to think. "Would you mind if I sat up? It's kind of hard for me to talk to you like this."

"But of course. You are my guest." The dragon flapped her wings in a gesture of welcome.

Johnny carefully sat up, and then winced, putting a hand to his head.

Suddenly solicitous, the dragon politely inquired, "Are you injured?"

"I'm okay," Johnny answered, scooting cautiously out of what he hoped was easy range of those sharp, gleaming talons. He unbuckled the lifeline from about his waist as well, not wanting to become entangled in the rope in case he found a means of egress from the cave.

"Good. Then tell me the tale. I do so love a good saga. Especially if it is about me." The dragon sat back on her haunches and gazed steadfastly at Johnny with an air of expectation.

"Uh… let's see. It began: Once upon a time there lived a very beautiful dragon. She looked like all the colors of the rainbow, see, and that's why she was so beautiful. And, uh, everyone who saw her said so." He omitted the part about the dragon being vain, supposing that would only anger her.

"Yes. Do go on. It sounds like a true story so far," purred the dragon, primping a bit as she spoke.

"Well, one day while she was flying around, she saw a handsome young prince riding through the forest and she fell in love with him. So, she turned herself into a princess with golden hair and green eyes, and she waited for the prince to come by, and then she sang songs for him, and then he fell in love with her, and then they lived happily ever after. The end." Johnny finished breathlessly, having recited all the words in a great rush.

The dragon tapped her chin thoughtfully with one long claw. "That is indeed a true tale." Then she pointed an accusing claw in Johnny's direction. "But you are not a very eloquent bard."

"Uh, well, no, uh, I guess I'm not."

"Can you sing?" she demanded. "We dragons do enjoy a pleasing melody."

Johnny nervously cleared his throat, and then launched into a heartfelt rendition of the first song that popped into his head. Unfortunately, it happened to be "You Light Up My Life."

He got as far as the first chorus.

"Cease that caterwauling!" thundered the dragon. Poking Johnny in the chest with one of her claws, she chided, "Neither are you a melodious minstrel."

Johnny rubbed his chest where the dragon had jabbed him. "I... uh... I'm sorry. I… I…" His stomach picked that inopportune moment to grumble loudly.

The dragon heard it, and cocked her head in Johnny's direction. "Oh my, where are my manners? I'd be most pleased to have you for lunch."

"A-are you going to eat m-me?" Johnny stammered, apprehensive that the dragon might be considering him as a tempting hors d'oeuvre, since he had proven to be such poor entertainment.

"Silly man!" the dragon snorted. "I don't eat humans. They require too much garlic to be palatable."

Johnny laughed nervously. "Well, that's a relief. What do dragons eat anyway?"

"I enjoy a meal of a salad with watercress and fennel, creamed turnip and parsnip soup, salted lamb with lentils, gingered carp, succulent roast piglet, cheeses, trenchers of finely herbed bread, spiced wine and elderberry cakes. Do you cook?" asked the dragon, smacking her lips hopefully.

"Only hotdogs, hamburgers, spaghetti and meatballs."

The dragon harrumphed, obviously disappointed. "You can't cook, either. I suppose we shall have to await my servants' return, then. Tell me, human, what are you good at?"

"I'm a pretty good firefighter/paramedic."

"And what exactly is that, pray tell?"

"Uh, we extinguish fires, rescue people, help people. Like the little boy who fell down here. We had to assess the situation, figure out how to get him out safely..."

"But you are trapped here, are you not?" the dragon pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but we got the boy out," he said somewhat defensively.

"You are good at solving riddles?"

Johnny recalled that dragons loved playing mind games, and he was loath to perform poorly on yet another of the dragon's little challenges. "Uh, I wouldn't say… no, not riddles exactly…"

"Answer me this," interrupted the dragon. "At night they come without being fetched, and by day they are lost without being stolen."

"Uh… cows?"

"Cows!" snorted the dragon. "How do you figure that?"

"I grew up on a ranch, see, and at night the cows would come home to be milked and in the day they would wander off in the fields, get lost somewhere…" his voice trailed off as he accurately interpreted the dragon's expression as reproving.

"No," she said primly. "That is not the correct answer."

Johnny thought some more. "Uh, I don't know. I give up."

"Stars," replied the dragon smugly.

"Well, I was close," protested Johnny.

"Close?" squawked the dragon peevishly. "You said 'cows.' How was that close?"

"The Milky Way has stars."

The dragon stared wordlessly at Johnny without blinking.

Unnerved by the way the dragon regarded him, he squirmed a little and said, "Okay, how about this. How many of these statements are true? 1. I am a man. 2. The world is flat. 3. The moon is made of green cheese. 4. Three of these statements are false."

"The answer is there is no answer."

"No, it's a paradox, see? The first statement is true, the second and third are false, and the fourth is neither, because if only two are false, then it's false. But, if it's false, it's true. Which makes it false."

The dragon rose to her full height and extended her wings. "I have not been wrong since 1648, when I thought I made a mistake!"

"Right! Right! Just kidding! There's no answer!" Hurriedly changing the subject, Johnny asked, "Where is the light in here coming from?"

"From my treasure, of course." The dragon stretched her neck down until she peered at Johnny, nose-to-nose. "Would you care to see it?"

"Uh…" Remembering that dragons guarded their treasure quite jealously, and only parted with any of it most reluctantly, he sensed that a mistake here might very well prove fatal. "Well, sure I'd like to see it, but only if you want to show it to me. It's your treasure, I mean. It's none of my business. Unless you'd like to show it to me. Then, of course, I'd like to see it. But only if you want me to. It's up to you..."

"Hmm." The dragon drew back to her full height and considered the man for a moment. Then she whirled about once, the luminescence shimmered like a curtain parting, and the glowing treasure trove in the cave beyond came clearly into view.

Johnny's jaw dropped open. The hoard of gold and silver, satins and silks, crystals and jewels, and exotic objects of delicate beauty far surpassed any description of pirate's booty or king's ransom he had ever imagined. "Wow," he squeaked feebly.

"Is this not the desire of your heart?" inquired the dragon, regarding him narrowly through hooded eyes.

Johnny shook his head numbly. "No… Not really."

"No?" The velvety softness of the dragon's voice masked the steel trap of the question. "It would make you the richest of men."

Johnny tore his eyes away from the splendid wealth spread out before him and looked back at the dragon. "What would I do with it? I already have what I need, and a lot of what I want. Oh sure, I could use a new car, or even my own house. Heck, I'd buy my partner a house. And a car. All the guys. Even Chet. But, really, if I were rich enough that I didn't have to work… No, I think I'd keep working. I love my job. And, I don't want a big, old house anyway. Who'd take care of it? The trouble with owning stuff is it ends up owning you. I'd rather be free, outside, hiking in the mountains, or camping near a stream. Money can't buy that." Johnny stopped speaking abruptly. "What?"

"You do tend to blether overmuch."

"Oh. Sorry." While he didn't know the precise definition of blether, he guessed it roughly meant 'Shut up, Gage!"

They regarded each other in silence, until Johnny could bear it no longer. "You know, I'm kind of surprised to find you here. I thought dragons didn't like to be around people."

"We generally don't. But, I must confess I rather adore the glitter of Hollywood. In fact, that's where my servants are today. They often act as extras in films."

"What kind of servants does a dragon have?"

"Gnomes. They're starring in some silly nonsense about creatures in a galaxy far, far away. Spaceships. Alien life forms. What a notion. Totally unbelievable plot, in my opinion."

"Uh huh," was all Johnny could think of to say.

"I rather fancy myself an artiste of sorts," continued the dragon, holding out a paw and inspecting her long claws. "I compose utterly captivating poetry and my singing is most enchanting. And as for theatrics, Sarah Bernhardt couldn't hold a candle to me. I suppose that's another reason why I am drawn to Hollywood; it is a type of Mecca for the arts. Although, I daresay that some of it is rather… well, rather pedestrian, don't you agree? Take 'Pete's Dragon,' for example. Elliot." She snorted. "That is not a proper name for a dragon at all. And, those spectacles featuring strumpets bursting forth from their attire and such. Pure tripe."

"Yes, ma'am." Johnny was not about to disagree with the dragon again.

"Shall I sing for you?"

"Please do," Johnny responded politely, sincerely hoping that dragon song wouldn't resemble fingernails on a chalkboard or Henry baying at the moon.

The dragon selected a bejeweled harp from her pile of treasure. After a few moments of plucking the strings and tuning them up, she began to sing.

Johnny sat mesmerized by her voice, the dulcet tones wrapping around him in sweet-sounding tendrils that held him spellbound. The dragon wove a song as infinite as the heavens, as deep as the oceans, as warm as the sun at noonday, a rich tapestry of sound, revealing all the secret longings of his heart.

As the last note died down, Johnny shook his head, trying to clear the fuzziness that seemed to enfold him. "That was beautiful," he said truthfully.

"Thank you," said the dragon, looking down on him with what Johnny assumed was a pleased smile. Abruptly she raised her head, as if sensing something. Soon Johnny heard what the dragon had already detected: the unmistakable sound of male voices filtering through the rocks.

The dragon cocked her head and peered penetratingly at the mound of stones piled at Johnny's back. "It seems as if your friends have found you. I suggest you move toward the center of this cave." She moved back to make way for the paramedic.

"You have been a most entertaining, albeit unusual, guest. Here is a token of my esteem." She dropped a small, smooth stone into his hand. "And, while I have immensely enjoyed our little visit, I must now bid you au revoir." With her last words, she cast a cloak of invisibility over herself and her treasure, extinguishing the luminous light with her departure, and casting the cave into darkness.


	3. Chapter 3

Johnny blinked several times and waved his hand in front of his face, struggling to see something, anything, as he stood and stumbled further away from the rocks. The inky blackness felt even more disconcerting than his bizarre conversation with the dragon. He jumped as several pebbles and rocks cascaded down in a mini avalanche, and then squinted in the sudden glare from a flashlight, trying to shield his eyes from the brightness.

"Gage!" Chet yelled as he spotted the paramedic standing in the beam of light. "Are you okay, Buddy?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Is the boy okay?"

"He's fine. What about you? Anything broken?"

"No. My head hurts, though."

"No damage, then," joked Chet. Somewhat surprised that this remark garnered no outraged response from Johnny, Chet added, "As soon as we clear away some more of this rock, we'll get you out and Roy can take a look at you." He noticed that Johnny swayed unsteadily on his feet as they talked. "Why don't you sit down? You look a little ragged."

"I'm okay," Johnny replied irritably as he complied, resting his head on his arms, the remainder of his sentence muffled. "Just quit shining that light in my eyes and get me out!"

"Well, that's gratitude for you. Here Marco and I are busting our butts with the guys from 110s, trying to rescue you, and all you do is complain," Chet grumbled good-naturedly as he retreated from the tiny window he had created in the rocks. He pulled the handie-talkie out of his pocket and called Cap to report that Johnny had been found, conscious, with a possible head injury, and to request that a Stokes be brought down into the tunnel.

Chet and Marco tried to keep Johnny talking as they worked, both exchanging mild glances of alarm at the monosyllabic responses from the usually verbose paramedic. As soon as they created a portal large enough to accommodate a man, Chet leaned into the cave, intending to assist Johnny.

He got one whiff of the sulfur-tinged air and exclaimed, "Aww man, what is that smell?" Chet's nose wrinkled involuntarily with distaste from the strong odor. "Gage, did you fart?"

"No, I did not!" Johnny replied indignantly, looking up. "That smell's from the dragon."

Chet's eyes widened in disbelief for a second and he then quickly swung the beam of the flashlight around the cave before bringing it back to rest over Johnny's face. As he did so, he noted for the first time the trail of dried blood trickling down the side of the paramedic's face. He called over his shoulder, "Marco! Hand me the oxygen!" Turning back to the paramedic, he said cautiously, "Say again, Johnny?"

"I said, 'I didn't fart. That's from the dra…'" Johnny stopped himself as he realized how his words would sound to Chet. "Never mind," he finished, putting his head back down.

"Uh huh." Chet maneuvered himself through the opening in the rocks and then reached back for the oxygen tank from Marco, saying quietly. "Tell Cap there's some kind of toxic fumes in here. Gage is disoriented. I think we're definitely going to need that Stokes."

Chet crossed the few feet to where Johnny sat and held out the oxygen mask. "Better put this on. I think the air is bad in here."

Johnny batted the proffered mask away and shakily rose to his feet. "I don't need that. Let's just get out."

Chet put out a hand to steady the other man and said, "Standard operating procedure, Pal. Put it on. I'm not getting chewed out by Cap for you."

Head pounding, too tired to argue with Chet, Johnny placed the mask over his face and then allowed Chet to assist him over the rocks, where Marco and another firefighter helped guide him into the Stokes waiting on the other side.

"Gage, for a skinny guy, you sure are heavy," remarked Chet as the three hoisted Johnny up and began to make their way back through the tunnel leading outside.

A few short minutes later, they carried him out into the cool, fresh evening air, where Roy and Cap stood anxiously waiting. Roy breathed an audible sigh of relief when he saw the firefighters emerge and hurried forward to meet them.

Although the rain had finally stopped, the brisk breeze continued to blow damply. Shivering, his teeth beginning to chatter, Johnny asked, "How long was I in there?"

"About ten hours. It's well after seven," answered Roy, tucking a blanket around his partner as they carefully picked their way down the hill. "How do you feel?"

"I feel a lot better now that I'm out here." Johnny managed a weak, crooked grin.

"Chet said you said your head hurts?" Roy continued to visually assess his partner, who, all things considered, outwardly looked pretty good.

"I must have hit it on something." Johnny frowned. "I don't really remember."

"Were you unconscious?"

"For a while."

"He was delirious, too," put in Chet.

"I was not delirious," protested Johnny irritably.

"You were talking about a dragon, Pal."

"I… it was hot in there. It smelled like sulfur," said Johnny defensively.

Roy smiled. "Read too many dragon stories to Susan, huh?"

"Yeah. That must have been it." Johnny closed his eyes as they set the Stokes down next to the squad.

Roy noticed the way Johnny held his right hand closed. "Did you hurt your hand?"

"Huh? No."

"What's in your hand, then?"

Johnny opened his hand and looked wonderingly at the multi-hued stone in his hand that glittered in the emergency rescue lights.

"I don't know. I must have picked this up."

"What's your name?"

"I'm not disoriented. I know my name!"

"Well, then, you know the drill. What's your name?" Roy knelt down beside his partner and matter-of-factly began to take the vitals.

"John Gage. Uh, I don't remember the name of the park, but I remember getting the boy out. And, it's Saturday."

"Good enough," said Roy, shining his pocket light into Johnny's eyes. "Did you vomit?"

"No."

Roy nodded, scribbled something on the pad of paper, and picked up the bio-phone. "Rampart, this is LA 51."

"Go ahead, 51." Dr. Brackett's confident baritone filled the airwaves.

"We have a 26-year-old male with a contusion over the left temple. Pupils are equal and reactive. He was unconscious for an unknown length of time. He also appears to be mildly dehydrated. Vitals are as follows: BP 110 over 60, pulse 58, respirations 18. Over."

"51, start an IV of D5W with one-half normal saline, continue to monitor vitals, and transport as soon as possible."

"10-4 Rampart. The ambulance has just arrived and we'll be transporting immediately."

"10-4"

Roy and the ambulance crew had Johnny ready for transport in a matter of minutes. "Your chariot awaits, sir," joked Roy.

"Chariot? Why did you say that?"

Roy shrugged. "I don't know. What's the matter?"

"I don't know. Nothing. Just tired."

The ride to Rampart had proven to be uneventful, and since Johnny's condition appeared to be stable, the rest of the crew returned to the station for some much needed hot showers and hot coffee.

Roy waited in the doctors' lounge for word of Johnny, hands wrapped around his own steaming mug of coffee as he let the brew drive away the chill of the day.

Less than a half-hour later, Dr. Brackett entered the lounge, his relaxed posture and smile telling Roy that all was well with his partner, even before the doctor spoke. "Your partner must lead a charmed life. A little dehydrated, a mild concussion…" Dr. Brackett spread his hands. "That's all. We'll keep him overnight for observation."

"Did he go up to a room already?"

"They're just getting ready to move him. You can probably go see him for a minute."

Roy nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Doc. I'll do that." Roy downed the contents of his cup before going in search of his partner.

* * *

The rattle of a cart in the hall woke him. He stretched, the aches in his back more from the hard, uncomfortable hospital bed than from the previous day's ordeal. He thought he could see an outline of sunshine tracing the edges of the heavy drapery covering the window. Guessing that the rain had finally stopped, he hoped he could go home soon. No point in wasting a beautiful day inside the hospital.

"Good morning, Mr. Gage." The day nurse cheerfully bustled through the door, wheeling a cart stocked with various medical supplies and equipment.

As she parked it at the foot of his bed, a standard, institutional-grade painting hanging on the wall caught her attention. The nurse examined it critically, arms akimbo. "That is a remarkably unattractive piece of… of whatever it is. I shall not dignify it by calling it art." She shook her head in disgust and then came over to Johnny and began fluffing his pillows and straightening his covers. "I trust you rested well?"

"Yes," Johnny replied, a bit puzzled by the nurse's odd behavior. "Aren't you going to take my BP and stuff? I'd like to get out of here early today."

"Of course, Mr. Gage. But, you won't be going anywhere until after the doctor sees you." She crossed over to the window. "Let's let the light in, shall we? It is a rather spectacular day outside."

Johnny squinted as she drew back the curtain, allowing the bright morning sunlight to spill into the room. Outside the window, a full-hued splash of color arched against the backdrop of the rapidly dissipating grey storm clouds.

The golden-haired woman flashed a brilliant smile as she turned back to face Johnny. The normally effusive paramedic sat speechless, gaping in disbelief. Surely it was a trick of the light that made her green eyes reflect the colors of the rainbow?

"My name is Chrysoberyl. My friends call me Chrys.

* * *

Riddle and Conundrum can be Googled on the web; FFN won't let me give the sites.


End file.
